Serviced pitches on Club Sites
It seems to be impossible to book a service pitch for a longer break of one or two weeks. This is due to the service pitches being booked for weekend visitors. We can book a service pitch Monday to Friday, but have to move if we want to stay over the weekend.
Why are service pitches being used for one or two nights stays at weekends, when members who want to have a longer holiday, are penalised by having to move once or twice during their stay.
We feel the Caravan Club is losing out on revenue, as longer stay members are curtailing their stays to fit Monday to Friday, when the service pitches are available.
Comments
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Why shouldn’t service pitches be available to book for shorter stays? We all have the same opportunities to book and those quickest off the mark get what they want.
Surely you're not asking for the booking arrangements to be changed because they currently don’t suit you.
I can’t agree with your logic of the club losing revenue as, if a service pitch is fully booked for 7 days, the club gets the same income whether one party uses the pitch for 7 nights, or 7 parties use it for 1 night each. A full pitch is a full pitch.
Sorry, but I can’t agree with your point of view.
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I don't feel your post is as much about the Club losing revenue, but more about you feeling disadvantaged. We equally have the choice of short or long stays and the chance of booking them, do you think you should have priority over others whose camping length differs from your own?
BTW, never used a serviced pitch.
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I agree with your point, but the same applies whatever type of pitch you want to use, it is not just on serviced pitches that it happens. The freedom of booking where you want for as long or as short as you want is the core of the Clubs booking system, but within that you are always going to have a win or a loose situation in some cases. I like the system we have for booking and accept that sometimes we can't get exactly what we want, but overall it suits us fine. I feel that the club should provide a lot more serviced pitches (not every site has the choice) instead of spending capital on these pods which have nothing to do with caravanning or motor homing.
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and sorry neither can I. As TW says a pitch in use seven nights a week makes the same revenue (assuming equal number of persons) whether it is seven individual bookings or a two and a five or any combination possible.
We all pay the same membership fee, no one group, the 'weekenders' or longer stayers should have an advantage over the other.
The only way to get a service pitch, and I'm probably the biggest fan btw, is to book early, or hope that more SP are created on site. And of course it is not impossible, I've booked many a long stay on SP up to August 2019 but you have to get in early.
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Serviced pitches are certainly popular and get booked up quickly. We've only ever used one once, some years ago because we wanted to be in a particular area with good views on a site - but we were there for a week. Still I can't see any merit in what you're suggesting. Any member is free to book whatever sort of pitch they choose for any period of time and that,I feel is exactly as it should be.
I'm not sure if what you say is correct, you'd need to be more specific - which site (s) and when are you looking to book?
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We were at the Hebden Bridge no facility site last week (lovely site). They have just refurbished the site including a new motorhome drive over waste point and have converted six of the original pitches to serviced. As they were only about £20 a night we treated ourselves to one. A couple of days ago I got the usual feedback survey. One of the questions was about would I approve of more serviced pitches being added so it seems the Club is actively looking to increase the supply of serviced pitches rather than the other way round.
The problem for the OP is that the weekends will always be the pressure point on availability. The Club have a straightforward policy of first come first served regardless of length of booking. As with everything if you must be on a certain site for a certain length of stay on a certain type of pitch you need to book early. The alternative is to book the dates available and keep coming back to check for cancellations until you get the time you need.
David
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Most of us have, due to work/life commitments had only weekend opportunities for much of our lives, save that annual holiday, to enjoy our passtime. Presently no one group, weekenders or weekers, is given priveledges as far as booking is concerned, we all are subject to what is available when we can go. Long may that continue in my opinion.
In this 24-7-52 society we live in, working patterns are changing and we need to be fair to all including those lucky enough to be retired but let's not forget we are all in this together.
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Since I believe I'm right in saying that, with maybe one exception, serviced pitches on club sites simply involve a tap and grey water disposal, it's worth pointing out that many CLs now offer that facility at much lower prices. We like club sites, but only use them at certain times of the year. So unless one is desperately keen to use a particular club site it's worth looking at alternatives in the same area if one's chosen dates are unavailable.
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Still only a tap and drain, I will book one if available only for the drain, hooking water up does not interest me, so if you see a small unit no awning not connected to the water amidst a sea of gravel that will be me.😜
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I'm just a bit irritated that, on sites I've visited, they've chosen to take out pitches with some of the best views or locations to make them serviced; possibly due to location of drains etc.
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And on other sites the services pitches are in some of the least pleasant spots, Dulverton for instance they're in the shade and some at Hillhead are a long trek to other facilities and have none of the nice coastal views either. Buyer beware....
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How do you think the tanks fill or empty without a tap or drain?
It matters not what the van has onboard, only that the occupant prefers to have a serviced pitch. His/her reasons are their own.
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Some caravans also have tanks.
Not all MHs move off pitch every day so are glad of using a serviced pitch.
What is your problem with people doing things in a way that suits them best, rjb?
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Edinburgh wardens said that SP are very popular with MH, and so they were
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I would not book a service pitch at £ 3.90 a night to much money. Our water in the Aquaroll lasts 2 days why would I spend money on such a thing. Part of caravanning is getting water and emptying the waste.
If service pitches were a lot cheaper then maybe I would use one.
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We had a caravan with an onboard water tank. Travelled empty, filled up with hose on pitch. Easy on CLs, you just need to be polite enough not to hinder those filling up aquarolls, etc.... If you picked your pitch on Club Sites carefully, perfectly possible to do similar. We saw a few MHs filling tanks with hoses from drinking water taps at Rowntree Park. It inconvenienced no one.
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If you have a particular requirement, Club advises phoning site to discuss with Wardens. They will often try and help folks that have a disability etc.... However, you perhaps do need to be forward thinking in terms of booking if your requirements are so specific, most sites only have a limited number of serviced pitches. There are quite a few CLs that have a tap and water waste at each pitch nowadays. So options are better, keeping folks with particular needs out there for longer hopefully.
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Not at all. Should I think "mmm, I’d better not book a SP in case a disabled person needs it"? Or, "I’d better avoid that pitch by the facility block in case a less able person needs it"? Would you think like that? No, none of us would and we would choose a pitch for our own individual reasons. We would, however, fully accept that a less able person had booked early, or rung ahead, to arrange a pitch suitable for their needs.
It's incumbent on us all to take care of our needs by whatever means is appropriate and to show consideration for others but your reasoning is simply not logical.
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Do you know, if a fellow member was having challenges regarding access to water and waste I'd help! After-all l'm constantly reminded of our friendship whilst on the road, they wave to me whilst on route and I wave back. I remember the time I really did needed help when on pitch and a caravaner came to assist me. Good neighbourly and all that, that's the beauty of our passtime, most of us think about each other.
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We always book a service pitch when we visit Chatsworth , all are H/S & we pretty much have stayed on them all .
They tend to be the last pitch type to be booked & are mostly available when we want to go (Sunday to Thursday/Friday .
Ok they cost extra over standard pitches ......but thats a bonus ....not everyone will pay the extra to get on one of the best sites on the network when there is no availability for standard pitches . 👍
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